Car coupler



W. KELSO CAR COUPLER Nov. 27 1923.

Filed Jan. a1, 1925 l l l I l l l I I l I l l l I .Illllullllllll l||l Patented Nov. 27, 1923.

UNITED STATES 1,475,635 PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM KELSO, 0F PITTSBURGH. PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO THE MGCONWAY &.

TOR-LEY COMPANY, OF PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA, A CORPORATION OF PENN- SYLVANIA.

CAR COUPLER.

Application filed January 31, 1923.. Serial No. 616,124.

T 0 (ZZZ/107L077? it may concern Be it known that 1, WILLIAM KnLso, a citizen of the United States, residing at Pittsburgh, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Car Couplers; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appen tains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to car couplers of the Master Car Builders type and particularly to the well known form termed the standard iD-coupler. It will be understood, however, that the features of construction hereinafter described and claimedare not limited in their application to that form of coupler alone.

The principal object of the invention is to provide a lifter for operating the lock of a D-coupler which facilitates the operation of the locking mechanism, minimizes the wear between the lifter and the look and, in cooperation with an anti-creep shoulder upon the coupler head, very effectively prevents the coupler look from accidentally moving to an unlocked position. Another object of the invention is to provide such a lifter with means cooperating with thecoupler head for causing said lifter to assume its locked relation with the anti-creep lug of the head.

The primary feature of the invention, generally stated, consists in combining with a coupler head and the knuckle pivotally mounted thereon, an upwardly 1nov able and rearwardly swinging lock for said knuckle adapted to be actuated by a lock lifter whose lower end is formed with trun nions extending into an upwardly and rearwardly opening slot with whichthe lock is provided, the coupler head having upon its interior a projection adapted to cooperate with a shoulder at the lower end of the lifter to prevent accidental unlocking of the lock, said shoulder lying in a substantially horizontal plane beneath said projection when the parts are in locked position.

A further feature of the invention consists in combining with acoupler head and a knuckle pivotally mounted thereon, an upwardly movable and rearwardly swinging lock adapted to be actuated by a. lock lifter whose lower end cooperates with an anticreep lug upon the coupler head to prevent accidental unlocking of the coupler, the said lifter. being provided with means whereby in the performance of the unlockmg operation the initial pull upon said lifter causes its lower end to execute a swinging movement under the influence of gravity effecting the release of the look from the control of the anti-creep means.

Other features of the invention, residing in special combinations of parts and particular details of construction, will hereinafter appear and be pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings illustrating the invention as applied to a Master Car Builders stand ard D-coupler,

Figure l is a vertical sectional vie-w of mechanism involving the invention, the lock, knuckle opener, knuckle and lock lifter being in elevation and in locked relation.

Figure 2 is a detail side elevation of the lock lifter illustrated in Fig. 1.

Figure 3 is a rear elevation of the lock lifter shown in Fig. 1.

Figure 4 is a detail plan view of the upper end of the lock lifter and the adjacent portion of the coupler head, showing the parts in locked relation. I

Figure 5 is a detail view of a modified form of the invention, the coupler head being in vertical section and the lock and lock lifter being in elevation.

In the drawings, 1 is the coupler head and 2 is the knuckle, the latterbeing rotat ably mounted upon the head by means of the knuckle-pin 3. Outward or uncoupling rotation of the knuckle is normally restrained by means of the well lmown locking block 4 having a downwardly extending leg 5 projecting through an opening 6 in the lower wall of the coupler head. 7 The lock 4 is fashioned at the top with an upwardly and rearwardly opening slot 7 for receiving the lower end of the rock lifter 8, said slot preferably being of the form employed in the standard D-co'upler lock. The lock 4,

which is adapted to move vertically and swing rearwardly within the coupler head, rests when in locked position upon the usual form of pivoted knuckle opening lever 9 with which the D-coupler is furnished. By the upward movement of the lock 4 the knuckle 2 is released or unlocked, while the subsequent rearward swinging movement of said look causes its depending leg 5 to press rearwardly against the adjacent end of the knuckle opening lever 9, thereby impelling the knuckle to perform an uncoupling rotation.

Unlike the standard form of lock lifter employed in top operating D-couplers, the lock lifter 8 is designed to be assembled 1n the mechanism by inserting its lower end through a suitable aperture 10 in the upper wall of the coupler head, the said opening preferably being of T-form to provide op positely disposed recesses 11 thro ;h which the trunnions 12 at the lower end of the lifter may pass. To permit the entry of the lower portion of the lifter into the coupler head and yet maintain the hole in the top wall of the coupler of minimum size, said top wall is preferably undercut slightly on opposite sides of the opening 10 therein, as indicated at 13.

The trunnions 19. at the lower end of the lifter 8 extend into the slot 7 at the upper end of the lock and constitute means for movably and detachably connecting the lifter thereto. To the rear of the trunnions the lifter is provided with a shoulder or face 1% which, when the parts are in locked relation, stands in a horizontal or substantially horizontal position immediately below an anti-creep lug Or shoulder 15 formed on the interior of the coupler head. the lower face or end of said lug preferably being hori- Zontal to conform to the said face 1%. These means provide a very effective locking of the lock 4; against accidental unlocking movement.

The lifter 8 is preferably adapted to be operatively connected to an uncoupling rod or other release rigging mechanism for actuating the lifter from the side of the car by a suitable eye 16 extending through the upper end of the lifter. The center of the eye 16 and the anti-creep face or shoulder 1 1 are disposed upon opposite sides of the vertical line passing through the center of gravity of the lifter 8, so that an upward pull upon said lift-erin unlocking causes its lower end to execute under the influence of gravity a swinging movement effecting the withdrawal of the face 14 of the lifter from beneath the anti-creep lug 15 of the coupler head, thus leaving the lock 4 free to perform' its unlocking movement. With the standard design'of D-couplerlifter, wherein the 'eye for receiving the uncoupling rod or release rigging is centrally located or disposed with its center in the vertical line passing through the center of gravity of the lifter or substantially so, the initial movement in uncoupling is a sliding of the trunnions 12 along the top walls of the recesses in the slot 7 in which said trunnions' operate; This movement is more' or less dithcult, depending upon the smoothness or roughness of the contacting surfaces, the amount of grit or other foreign matter which may be present, and it entails unnecessary wear of the parts. In a mechanism embodying my invention, however, the initial uncoupling movement of the lifter 8 is a swinging or pivotal motion resulting in the lower end of the lifter touching, if at all, only the bottom wall of the slot 7 in the lock. This facilitates operation and reduces wear. I

At its upper end adjacent the eye 16 the lock lifter 8 is provided with a forwardly extending lug or shoulder 17 which by overlapping a portion of the top wall of the coupler head effectually prevents the lifter from dropping or being driven down into the coupler head. W'hen in locked position the lug 17 is spaced somewhat above the top wall of the head so as not to interfere with the effectiveness of the means for guiding the-lower end of the lifter to its position for locking the lock 1 against accidental unlocking. The sloping bottom wall of the usual slot 7 in the lock may alone perform this guiding function, but if desired the upper end of the lifter 8 may be provided with a rearwardly extending lug or shoulder 18 which contacts the top wall of the coupler head when the parts are in locked position, thereby causing the lower end of the lifter to swing into locked relation with the anti- .creep lug regardless of any guiding action effected by the inclined bottom of the slot 7. The upper surface 19 of the lug 18 is preferably inclined so as to serve as a means for deflecting shearing blows imparted to the lifter 8. Intermediate of its ends the lifter is preferably strengthened and stiffened by laterally projecting flanges 20 which extend into and are movable through the. recesses 11 permitting passage of the trunnions 12.

The modified forin of the invention illustrated in Fig. 5 is identical with the construction heretofore described except for the omission of the rearwardly extending lug 18 at the upper end of the lock lifter. Accordingly, corresponding details of construction have been indicated by like reference characters.

I claim I 1. In a car coupler, the combination with a coupler head, of a knuckle pivotally mounted thereon, an upwardly movable lock for said knuckle whose upper end stands below the upper wall of said head, and a lock lifter for actuating said lock, said lock being formed with an upwardly and rearwardly opening slot adapted to receive the lower end of said lifter, said lock and said lifter being provided with cooperating means whereby they are movably connected, said lifter being provided with a shoulder adapted to project outwardly beyond said lock in asubstantially horizontalplane when the parts are in locked position, and said head being provided with a substantially horizontal face adapted to cooperate with said shoulder to prevent accidental unlocking of said lock.

2. In a car coupler, the combination with a coupler head, of a knuckle pivotally mounted thereon, an upwardly movable and rearwardly swinging lock for said knuckle, and a lock lifter for actuating said lock, said lock being formed with an upwardly and rearwardly opening slot receiving the lower end of said lifter, said lifter being detachably connected to said look by trunnions formed on said lifter and extending into i said slot, said coupler head being provided upon its interior with a projection adapted to cooperate with said lifter to prevent accidental unlocking of said lock, and said lifter being provided with a shoulder which when the parts are in locked relation occupies a substantially horizontal position beneath and adjacent to said projection.

3. In a car coupler, the combination with a coupler head, of a knuckle pivotally mounted thereon, an upwardly movable and 'rearwardly swinging lock for said knuckle,

and a lock lifter for actuating said lock, said lock being formed with an upwardly and rearwardly opening slot adapted to receive the lower end of said lifter and within which said end of the lifters is movable, said head being provided upon its interior with a shoulder adapted to cooperate with said lifter to prevent accidental unlocking of said lock, said lifter being provided at its lower end with a face which extends beneath said shoulder when the parts are in locked relation, and said lifter being provided with means whereby an upward pull upon said lifter in performing an unl0cking operation initially causes the lower end of said lifter to execute a swinging movement under the influence of gravity efiecting the withdrawal of said face from beneath said shoulder.

4. In a car coupler, the combination with a coupler head, of a knuckle pivotally mounted thereon, an upwardly movable and rearwardly swinging lock for said knuckle, and a lock lifter for actuating said lock, said lock being formed with an upwardly and rearwardly opening slot receiving the lower end of said lifter and within which said end of the lifter is adapted to perform a swinging movement, said head being provided upon its interior with a shoulder adapted to cooperate with said lifter to prevent accidental unlocking of said lock, said lifter being formed at its lower end with a face which extends beneath said shoulder when the parts are in locked relation, and said lifter being provided at its upper end with an eye adapted to form a connection with means for operating said lifter, said face and the center of said eye being disposed upon opposite sides of the vertical line passing through the center of gravity of said lifter.

5. In a car coupler, the combination with a coupler head, of a knuckle pivotally mounted thereon, a lock for said knuckle, and a lock lifter adapted to actuate said lock, said lock being provided with a slot receiving the lower end of said lifter, the upper end of said lock being beneath and in spaced relation to the upper wall of the coupler head when the parts are in locked relation, said head being provided with a shoulder adapted to be engaged by said lifter to prevent accidental unlocking of said lock, said lifter being formed at its lower end witha face adapted to engage said shoulder, and said lifter being provided at it upper end with a lug overlapping a portion of the top wall of said head and having an eye therein, said lug being spaced above said top wall when said lifter is in locked position.

6. In a car coupler, the combination with a coupler head, of a knuckle pivotally mounted thereon, a lock for said knuckle, and a lock lifter adapted to actuate said lock, said head being provided on its interior with a shoulder adapted to be engaged by said lifter to prevent accidental unlocking of said lock, said lifter being formed at its lower end with a face adapted to engage said shoulder, and said lifter beingprovided at its upper end with a plurality of oppositely extending lugs overlapping the upper wall of said head, one of said lugs normally being in contact with the up per wall of said head and one of said lugs normally being spaced above said wall.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

WILLIAM KELSO. I 

